Aqua Credit Card referred to Moorroft

[Worried:-(]

hello, I have been referred to your site by someone who has had help and hope I can get some advice. My story is that I ran into difficulty about 18 months ago and defaulted on a credit card with Aqua. I go into a payment plan with Moorcroft for £32 per month which has been running for a little while now, today I rceived a letter saying they want to increase my payments by £ per month (I pay by DD), and if I am agreeable to this?

 

The thing is that I am worried if I do nothing they will increase the payments and the thing that woris me more is that they will do it again and again. When the acct was passed to Moorcroft the balance was approx £800 now its just £600 and they are saying that it will take over 18 months to pay it back hence I suspect the reason for increasing my payments.

 

What should I do?

[harrassed senior]

Hello and welcome:

 

Step 1: Cancel the Direct Debit immediately it is never a good idea to set up a DD with any DCA as they are known, allegedly, to increase the amounts, take extra payments etc. without your knowledge.

 

Step 2: How old is your Aqua account, as there may be other actions we can suggest.

 

Step 3: Depend on the answer to step 2, are you in receipt of any benefits etc.

 

Step 4: Stop worrying, we, on CAG, will be here to help you every step of the way, so Welcome.

[maroondevo52]

There's bound to be charges you can re-claim.

[Worried:-(]

I am not entirely sure how old it is, the oldest stement I have is Dec 2008, when the acc was passed to Moorcroft it was £1041.33, teh letterthat come today says balance of £604.11.

 

When I look at the statements there are loads of late payment charges and overlimit fees attached, they closed my account in July 2009 and at a balance of £867.88 by Dec 2009 the balance had risen to £1041.33.

 

I am not in receipt of benefits, I just anage to make ends meet to be honest.

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

If you do not have all your statements, send a Subject Access Request to the Origional Creditor, add all your late payment charges and overlimit fees, then write to them saying you want these back.

[Worried:-(]

Oh gosh, I am just looking at the direct debit confirmation and there is a sentance that reads:

 

 

Payment schedule

Collect 32 debits of £32.23 and a last debit of £10.78 on day 28, each month,fom Jan 2010 until Sep 2012. The debit/s wil be collected on or immediately after the date/s specified.

 

and another note saying that Moorcroftt reserves the right to review your payment arrangement at any time, should this prove necessry they will conac me at least 10 working days prioir to any change.

 

So does that mean that they cant increase my payments as I have an agreement in writing from them? only it seems as though this letter contradicts itself?

 

confused.....

[harrassed senior]

This 'industry' have never been worried by 'guidelines', or rules etc., and, in other cases on here they have, allegedly increased payments gradually so that it takes months before the debtor notices they have been paying more each month. It really is just best to cancel, and insist on setting up a standing order which you are in charge of the amounts sent, so, for instance, say your payment was £40 per month and one month you could only afford £20 then that is all you would pay. They would moan and threatened, but at the end of the day, a judge would not be best pleased if you were paying something and they took it to Court.

[Worried:-(]

ok.

 

so i need to wrte to them and ask for a copy of my statements?

[harrassed senior]

Better still, as suggested send a SAR here is the link:

 

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/48-bank-templates/110--data-protection-act-1998-subject-access-request

[Worried:-(]

can anyone offer any advice about the payment schedule that I posted earlier up?

[dpick]

I would as above get the details of all charges and then claim back all charges and any interest applied to them, this could wipe the debt. In my case on a total of some £600 of charges the interest worked out at approx £800 so total of approx £1400 was reclaimed from account as I only owed some £900 they had to pay me some money did they squeal.

 

If you don't feel able to reclaim charges then use the DD details to setup a standing order and pay what you can afford as you can amend a standing order any time you like. Also it is you who decide how much you can afford to pay no matter what Moorcrap my like to think the only time you can be told you have to pay a set amount is by the court and the court will consider your circumstances with regard to payment.

 

dpick

[Worried:-(]

ok, I will set about sorting this.

 

I think I will send off for the information as I think at some point there was repayment cover.

[alfwithhair]

and cancel that direct debit with Moorcrap asap before they clear your account out.

[Worried:-(]

wont that just put me into arrears? as I wont be able to get my payment to them in time for it to clear?

 

and then I expect that all hell will break loose

[alfwithhair]

Send them the agreed payment by some other method.

Ask for their banking details and set up a standing order, that way only YOU can change the amount.

 

If you leave the direct debit in place you can be sure they will take the incresed amount regardless of your ability to pay it

[t_ony]

Worried - Moorcr@p have no legal power whatsoever to be receiving any money off you - only a court has this power.

Whilst you are paying them, they will see you as a cashcow & think they can treat you in whatever way they want.

Its not for these fools to dictate how much you should pay & when.

You are the boss of them, not them the boss of you.

Never pay them by DD as mentioned above.

If you wish to carry on paying, then pay what you want/or what you have - not what they demand - if that only be £1 per month then so be it.

They will throw their dummies out the pram - but tough on them.

Report them to the OFT & trading standards if they start harassing you.

[Worried:-(]

So rather than call them on the phone can I take the details of the direct debit paperwork and set up a standing order?

[t_ony]

Never phone a DCA & refuse to answer security questions if they phone you.

Everything in writing only always.

Cancel the DD with your bank/or get the details of the DD off them & then you can start afresh by setting up an SO if you wish - for an amount you want to pay, not what they demand you must pay.

[Worried:-(]

ok, well I need to arrange the Sar which I will organise at the weekend when I have time.

[silverfox1961]

Hi,

make sure the SAR goes to the original creditor-NOT Moorcroft

[Worried:-(]

hello all

 

i have sent off the sar and the 10 postal order, just waiting to hear back, which will be interesting! I am certain that it was taken out after 2007 so expecting an enforceable cca, will post it up foe someone to look at as I wouldnt have a clue, and will look at the statments and charges applied too!

 

wish me luck folks, and thanks for everything so far.

[247orbital]

@Alfwithhair

 

how do I go about reclaiming charges for late payments, interest etc if the OC only provides the last 6 years worth of data and charges go back before this?